Having just watched The Hobbit and with Tolkien already a bit hit in our house, we decided to spend a Sunday afternoon hiking the Tolkien Trail in Lancashire. Apparently he used to regularly stay in the Ribble Valley and the beautiful surroundings here inspired him to write Lord of the Rings.
Our starting point was a little village called Hurst Green. Son zoned in on the ice-cream shop and was not prepared to risk it still being open when we got back. One chocolate scoop later and we were ready to set off, just a climb over a stile and we were in the countryside proper. Mud was in plentiful supply on this hike – staying clean was not an option.
It was peaceful, quiet and so lovely – sheep and lambs everywhere and not another human in sight.
The landscape of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is taken from this corner of the Ribble Valley. We found murky ponds, atmospheric nooks and crannies and lots of misty, green Lancashire countryside. This could so easily have been Middle Earth with Son masquerading as a Hobbit.
We hiked through a couple of fields and an area of woodland then came upon the impressive Stonyhurst College. It has spires, turrets and is a breath-taking real-life Hogwarts. Oliver Cromwell spent the night here in 1648 and called it “the best house he had ever seen.” It was given to Jesuit priests in 1794, became a boarding school for Roman Catholic boys and by the end of the 1800’s was one of the foremost public schools in the country.
Tolkien was a regular visitor here in the 1940’s when he came to visit his son John, studying to be a priest at the Jesuit seminary. He spent much of his time here walking and writing.
At the end of Hacking Wood we climbed down to the River Hodder, crossed a wooden bridge and skimmed stones in the water.
Our hike took us along the banks of the wide, rippling and very fast flowing River Ribble. When we came to Devil’s Bridge we stopped and had an alfresco lunch. The bridge is intriguing, apparently Cromwell removed the sides but left the 3 arches, no idea why!
Lots of sheep, lots of mud and three hours later we arrived back at our starting point.
Son was muddy beyond belief, but we loved this area. A quiet, brooding landscape with babbling brooks, rolling hills, green countryside and mysterious woodland – not hard to see why Tolkien found it so inspirational.
What scenery–it reminds me a lot of New Zealand! Isn’t it funny how we love green, green, green but we don’t love the mud and rain the comes with it!
So true, with all the lovely green fields comes a lot of rain (and mud!)!
So gorgeous. Are these marked trails, or how do you know where to go? I haven’t figured out the hiking-in-the-country thing yet.
This was a trail I took from the internet – we use a mixture of sources, sometimes books but now increasingly find things on the web. Often we do get lost too though, luckily my husband has a good sense of direction (I have none!!).
What a lovely way to spend 3 hours! It looked like it was a hiked better suited to Wellies, than hiking boots. 🙂 I can almost hear the squelching, and sucking sounds the mud makes as Son is standing and moving in it.
We should have had wellies – so true, but we did manage, albeit finishing up with very dirty boots!
Cool! A little bit melancholic and so natural…love it!
It’s a lovely place – a bit different but great for a hike.
Love this. The pictures are great. I love the Middle Earth one the most. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you – it’s a lovely area to explore.
The one with the 3 sheeps/lambs in a row I mean!
I took so many pictures of lambs but think this was my favourite too!
And the one with all the sheep staring at you is awesome. It looks like they are posing in a triangle.
Think they were wondering what we were doing looking at them!! Either that or just posing nicely!
Sorry for so many comments, but why do they number them?
Think it’s to identify them easily – so they can check which lamb belongs to which mother etc..
It looks like a lovely walk and your pictures and words took us every step of the way! 🙂
It was a great walk, gorgeous scenery and interesting things along the way! Thank you for reading.
Beautiful pictures! It does look very chilly though 😉 This looks like such a lovely area to visit, thanks for sharing it.
Thank you – it was a bit chilly, but the hike warmed us up!
How beautiful. I love the photo of all the sheep looking straight at the camera!
They seemed to be posing very nicely for me – either that or wondering what on earth we were doing!
Love this!
Thank you!!
It is funny that this was the original scenery, and yet the movie was shot on the other side of the world. Mind if I pin this?
Maybe the New Zealand landscape is more dramatic than here which translates better in a movie? Please feel free to pin!
It looks tranquil and beautiful! The sheep seem to be posing just for your pics 🙂 I enjoyed your report, thank you!
It is a really peaceful place – those sheep were unbelievable! They seemed to be wondering about us for sure. Thank you for dropping by!
Loved your pictures and story! Thank you for sharing your story 😉
Thank you for dropping by and reading!
We’ve always heard about the Tolkien tourism as being centered in New Zealand, but of course England makes the most sense. This seems like a place we would love to explore, especially after reading The Hobbit as a family. Any time someone ends up muddy, you know it has been a good day 🙂
It is a really lovely walk, the Tolkien association makes it even more interesting. Yes, the mud definitely seems to mean enjoyment levels were high!!
Beautiful landscapes. I can see how they could inspire his books.
Yes, it’s a lovely part of England.
I love how your posts often mention ice cream breaks. My holidays are often punctuated with ice cream breaks. (:
Ice cream works as a good bribe for our youngest family member – especially on a hike like this one! We have just come back from Italy and eaten so much gelato maybe it’s time to take a break!
Oh, that sheep and the two lambs, all in a row are my favorite 🙂 Beautiful pictures!
It’s like they were posing specially isn’t it? I like that one too!!
This beautiful! Im a huge fan of Lord of the Rings. Jealous!
It was a great hike – the Tolkien connection made it even more special!
Hey! Thanks of stopping by my blog. I am poking around yours, especially the England section, and loving all the photos! I am a huge Lord of the Rings Fan, and am actually attending the C.S. Lewis conference in Cambridge right now, and it is fun to learn about Lewis and Tolkien’s friendship 🙂
Thank you for coming by here! Loved your observations on England – great post. I am a CS Lewis fan too – I find his and Tolkien’s relationship fascinating. We’ve just come back from Ireland and been to some CS Lewis “places” – not got around to sorting my photos or blogging about it yet though.
Wow! I am traveling to Ireland in March, mostly Dublin and the Cliffs of Moher 🙂
lovely! I haven’t heard of it:)
It’s beautiful and an interesting walk.